Net.Book.Riddles (Part 2)
Mark Manning
collection of all of the riddles which have been submitted to myself
via e-mail and rec.games.frp. I hope you enjoy it.
Please note that for MANY of these jokes, those who submitted them do
NOT take credit for their creation. These are just those people who
submitted the riddles - NOT THE AUTHORS. There are some though,
which are the creation of the people submitting them. If possible,
this has been marked. Those not marked though, are the work of some
other author unknown to myself or not specified when the riddle was
given to myself.
Thanks to everyone who submitted riddles whether from books or from
their own head. This is a lengthy list, so I hope everyone will bear
with me in this listing. Thanks again everyone!
The format of this listing is in the form of a riddle (r:) followed by the
answer (a:). If there is more than one answer, then the _preferred_
answer will be denoted with (pa:).
==========================================================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: cpe...@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
r: You eat something you neither plant nor plow.
It is the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies.
pa:salt
a:ice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
r: A serpent swam in a silver urn.
A golden bird did in its mouth abide
The serpent drank the water, this in turn
Killed the serpent. Then the gold bird died.
a:Oil based lamp with a floating wick.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Icelandic riddle or somesuch:
r: Teacher, open thy book.
a:A butterfly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
r: My tines are long.
My tines are short.
My tines end ere
My first report.
a:Unknown (as of yet)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From dsc...@cs.vu.nl Wed Apr 8 12:49:46 1992
r: Two horses, swiftest travelling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Shadowraiker
Secundus of GRC
Keeper of ShadowRealm
r: It can be said:
To be gold is to be good;
To be stone is to be nothing;
To be glass is to be fragile;
To be cold is to be cruel.
Unmetaphored, what am I?
a:A Heart.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dack A. Carroll (2390carrolld.vms.csd.mu.edu)
r: round she is,
yet flat as a board
altar of the Lupine Lord
Pearl on black velvet
Jewel in the sea
Unchanged yet e'er changing
Eternally.
a:The Moon
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: KM42000 <KM42%MARISTB...@uga.cc.uga.edu>
r: Twice four and twenty blackbirds
sitting in the rain
I shot and killed a quarter of them
How many do remain?
a:Since, after shooting 1/4 of the birds, the rest will fly off, the answer
should be either (2*(4+20))/4=12 or ((2*4)+20)/4=7.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: Gentevoort <v892079%SI.H...@uga.cc.uga.edu>
r: first will be last
last will be first
and all inbetween will also be cursed
open the door and the thing will be there
so be carefull and beware !
a:Unknown. Thought to be: Post. As in the post on a door.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sean (gu...@uniwa.uwa.oz.au),
r: It has a golden head
It has a golden tail
but it hasn't got a body.
a:A golden coin
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: BILLERMA%XAVIER...@uga.cc.uga.edu
r: A leathery snake,
With a stinging bite,
I'll stay coiled up,
Unless I must fight.
a:A whip
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Unknown author:
r: My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.
a:A candle
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Riddle Manual
=================
r: What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
a:A mountain
r: Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
a:Your teeth
r: Voiceless it cries,
Wingless it flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
a:The wind
r: An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."
a:A daisy in field of grass, big eye is sun (stupid one.)
r: It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
a:The darkness
r: A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
a:Eggssesss
r: Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
a:A fish
r: This thing all things devours:
Birds, beast,trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
a:Time
r: You feel it, but never see it and never will.
a:Your heart
r: You must keep it after giving it.
a:Your word
r: As light as a feather, but you can't hold it for ten minutes.
a:Your breath
r: Has a mouth but does not speak, has a bed but never sleeps.
a:A river
r: Runs smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but cannot climb!
a:Water
r: You break it even if you name it!
a:Silence
r: It passes before the sun and makes no shadow.
a:The air?
r: You feed it, it lives, you give it something to drink, it dies.
a:A fire
r: A red drum which sounds
Without being touched,
And grows silent,
When it is touched.
a:Your heart
r: A harvest sown and reaped on the same day
In an unplowed field,
Which increases without growing,
Remains whole though it is eaten
Within and without,
Is useless and yet
The staple of nations.
a:A war
r: If you break me
I do not stop working,
If you touch me
I may be snared,
If you lose me
Nothing will matter.
a:Hope
r: All about, but cannot be seen,
Can be captured, cannot be held
No throat, but can be heard.
a:The air? The wind?
r: I go around in circles,
But always straight ahead
Never complain,
No matter where I am led.
a:A wheel
r: Lighter than what
I am made of,
More of me is hidden
Than is seen.
a:An iceberg or a piece of ice
r: If a man carried my burden,
He would break his back.
I am not rich,
But leave silver in my track.
a:A snail
r: My life can be measured in hours,
I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick
Fat, I am slow
Wind is my foe.
a:A candle
r: Weight in my belly,
Trees on my back,
Nails in my ribs,
Feet I do lack.
a:A boat, but I accepted cave as an answer
r: You can see nothing else
When you look in my face
I will look you in the eye
And I will never lie.
a:A mirror
r: I am always hungry,
I must always be fed,
The finger I lick
Will soon turn red.
a:A fire
r: Three lives have I.
Gentle enough to soothe the skin,
Light enough to caress the sky
Hard enough to crack rocks.
a:Water
r: Glittering points
That downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
That never rust.
a:Iceicles, teeth or stalactites?
r: Each morning I appear
To lie at your feet,
All day I follow
No matter how fast you run,
Yet I nearly perish
In the midday sun.
a:A shadow
r: Keys without locks
Yet I unlock the soul.
a:A piano, harpsichord
r: Something wholly unreal, yet seems real to I
Think my friend, tell me where does it lie?
a:In the mind
r: I am so simple,
That I can only point
Yet I guide men
All over the world.
a:A compass.
r: A beggar's brother went out to sea and drowned.
But the man who drowned had no brother.
What was the relationship between the man who drowned and the beggar?
pa:The beggar was his sister
a:Two priests.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From Wee Willie <s89...@MINYOS.XX.RMIT.OZ.AU>
A dozen more riddles.
compiled by Dan Judd.
r: For our ambrosia we were blessed,
by Jupiter, with a sting of death.
Though our might, to some is jest,
we have quelled the dragon's breath.
Who are we?
a:Bees
r: Colored as a maiden tweaked,
time was naught when I began;
through the garden I was sneaked,
I alone am the fall of man.
What am I?
a:An Apple
r: Early ages the iron boot tread,
with Europe at her command.
Through time power slipped and fled,
'til the creation of new holy land.
Who am I?
a:Italy (Rome)
r: One thin, one bold,
one sick, one cold.
The earth we span,
to prey upon man.
Who are we?
a:The Four Horsemen of Apocolypse
r: One where none should be,
or maybe where two should be,
seeking out purity,
in the kings trees.
What am I?
a:A Unicorn
r: He who makes it does not keep it.
He who takes it does not know it.
He who knows it does not want it.
He who gathers it must destroy it.
What is it?
a:Counterfiet Money
r: One tooth to bite,
he's the forests foe.
One tooth to fight,
as all Norse know.
What is it?
a:An Axe
r: This creature, part man and part tree,
hates the termite as much as the flea.
His tracks do not match,
and his limbs may detach,
but he's not a strange creature to see.
What is it?
a:A Man With A Wooden Leg
r: The part of the bird
that is not in the sky,
which can swim in the ocean
and always stay dry.
What is it?
a:A Shadow
r: Dead and bound,
what once was free.
What made no sound,
now sings with glee.
What is it?
a:A Wooden, Stringed Instrument
r: The root tops the trunk
on this backward thing,
that grows in the winter
and dies in the spring.
What is it?
a:An Icicle
r: Touching one, yet holding two,
it is a one link chain
binding those who keep words true,
'til death rent it in twain.
What is it?
a:A Wedding Ring
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
r: The man who made it didn't need it.
The man who bought it didn't use it.
The man who used it didn't want it.
a:A coffin
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Statue with the Inscription : All ye who Enter here, weep, for my Story
is a sorrowfull one. (Or something similar)
The correct response was to weep in front of the statue, which opened a secret
door behind It. I used a slightly harder version of that on my Group, and it
stumped them for quite a while :-)
Hope that helps you. 'Till then,
Deon Ramsey
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
r: The wise and knowledgeable man is sure of it.
Even the fool knows it.
The rich man wants it.
The greatest of heroes fears it.
Yet the lowliest of cowards would die for it.
What is this upon which I ponder?
a:Nothing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From jma...@us.oracle.com Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992
r: I am and yet can not
am an Idea, yet can rot
am two but none
am on land, but on sea.
What am I?
a:Paradox (and a pair of docks)
r: all in white
Fossil, fresh snow, a loan, the sky,
Just what am I?
a:A bride (something old, something new, something borrowed something blue)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: Duncan Schoen <dsc...@cs.vu.nl>
>From jma...@us.oracle.com Thu Apr 9 18:45:57 1992
r: I am better than sex,
I am worse than MS-DOS,
Dead men eat me,
If you eat me you'll die.
r: Two horses, swiftest travelling,
Harnessed in a pair, and
Grazing ever in places
Distant from them.
r: What is greater than God,
Worse than the Devil,
Dead man eat it,
If you eat it you'll die.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From lgr...@maths.tcd.ie Wed Apr 15 11:33:19 1992 (Lesley)
The following are from _A Feast Of Creatures. Anglo-Saxon Riddle
Songs_ by Craig Williamson, published by Scolar Press (London, 1983),
originally Uni. of Phil. Press, 1982. ISBN 0-85967-671-4
Some of the more (ahem) 'anglo-saxon'...
r: I am a wonderful help to women,
The hope of something to come. I harm
No citizen except my slayer.
Rooted I stand on a high bed.
I am shaggy below. Sometimes the beautiful
Peasant's daughter, an eager-armed,
Proud woman grabs my body,
Rushes my red skin, holds me hard,
Claims my head. The curly-haired
Woman who catches me fast will feel
Our meeting. Her eye will be wet.
a:An onion
r: I saw a swift one shoot out on the road:
S S I P
I saw a woman sitting alone.
a:Piss (yes, really...)
r: Power and treasure for a prince to hold,
Hard and steep-cheeked, wrapped in red
Gold and garnet, ripped from a plain
Of bright flowers, wrought - a remnant
Of fire and file, bound in stark beauty
With delicate wire, my grip makes
Warriors weep, my sting threatens
The hand that grasps gold. Studded
With a ring, I ravage heir and heirloom.
To my lord and foes always lovely
And deadly, altering face and form.
a:A sword.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>From: ma...@trillian.jsc.nasa.gov (Mark Manning)
Notes: Although many may not believe it, most of these riddles (though not
all) are from my own head. There are fewer than six riddles which come from
a book source. The rest I've made up.
r: As I was going to Saint Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
With each wife were seven sacks,
In each sack were seven kits,
With each kit were seven cats,
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to Saint Ives?
a:One
r: Thirty white horses upon a red hill,
Now they stamp,
Now they champ,
Now they stand still.
a:Teeth
r: Dawns away,
The day's turned grey,
And I must travel far away.
But I'll be back,
And then we'll track,
The light of yet another day.
pa:The Sun
a:A Shadow
Deep, dark, underground,
That is the place where I'll be found.
Yet brought into the light of day,
I sprinkle sunlight every-which-a-way.
Though dulled with oil I will be found,
I am remarkably well and throughly sound.
Cut me quick and it will be seen,
That I instantly have a marvelous sheen.
pa:A Diamond
a:A gem
r: Little hips,
Bent thighs,
Long legs,
One eye.
a:A pair of tongs
r: What has six eyes,
Six arms,
Six legs,
Three heads,
And a very short life?
pa:Three peasants about to be eaten by a dragon.
a:The Monkees about to be eaten by a dragon.
r: What is it that speaks without any words?
And can be loudly, and distinctly heard?
Will drive away friend, and foe alike.
And is enough to make a stolid man's face alight?
a:Passing Gas
r: What must be in the oven yet can not be baked?
Grows in the heat yet shuns the light of day?
What sinks in water but rises with air?
Looks like skin, but is fine as hair?
a:Yeast
r: Little Johnny Walker,
My, but he was a talker!
Yet nary a word did he say!
When I took him out,
Then they would all point and shout!
And ask that I put him away.
(This is NOT a dirty riddle.
So get your mind out of the gutter!)
a:Your opinions
r: Two legs sat upon three legs with one leg in his lap.
In comes four legs, grabs one leg, and runs off with him.
Up jumps two legs, grabs up three legs, throws it after four legs,
and makes him bring back one leg.
a:One leg is a leg of mutton.
Two legs is a person.
Three legs is a stool.
Four legs is a dog.
r: They are many and one,
They wave and they drum,
Used to cover a stare,
They go with you everywhere.
a:Your hands
r: Stomp, stomp,
Chomp, chomp,
Romp, romp.
Standing still,
all in gear.
a:Horses
r: Sweet tooth,
Ah shoot,
All gone,
We all long,
For another piece of it.
a:Candy
r: It comes in on little cat's feet,
Is neither sour, nor sweet.
Hovers in the air,
And then is not there.
a:Fog or Mist
r: A laugh,
A cry,
A moan,
A sigh.
a:Emotions
r: What is it you have to answer?
But to answer you have to ask?
And to ask you have to speak?
And to speak you have to know,
The answer.
a:A Riddle
r: I can hit you in the eye,
Yet twinkle in the sky,
Expanding when I die,
What do you think am I?
a:A star
r: Squishes,
Squashes,
Wishes I washes,
Can get it in my hair,
Makes me not look too fair.
a:Mud (Your mom wishes you'd wash it off)
r: White on black,
And black on white.
Helps you to know things,
By using your sight.
a:A monitor (More of a Traveller riddle)
r: Up a hill,
Down a hill,
Over them I may roam,
But after all my walking,
There's no place like my own.
a:Your home
r: This thing is a most amazing thing.
For it can be both as sharp as a knife,
Or as flat as a floor.
And yet, for all that it can be,
It is as natural as a bee.
a:Music
r: Deep, deep, do they go.
Spreading out as they go.
Never needing any air.
They are sometimes as fine as hair.
a:Roots
r: Oh Lord! I am not worthy!
I bend my limbs to the ground.
I cry, yet without a sound.
Let me drink of waters deep.
And in silence I will weep.
a:A Weeping Willow
r: Shifting, Shifting, Drifting deep.
Below me great and mighty cities sleep.
Swirling, Scurlling, All around.
I'm only where no water will be found.
a:The desert
r: I bubble and laugh
And spit water in your face.
I am no lady,
And I don't wear lace.
a:A fountain
r: What has wings,
But can not fly.
Is enclosed,
But can outside also lie.
Can open itself up,
Or close itself away.
Is the place of kings and queens,
And doggerel of every means.
What is it upon which I stand?
Which can lead us to different lands.
a:A stage
r: Do not begrude this,
For it is the fate of every man.
Yet it is feared,
And shunned in many lands.
Causes problems, and sometimes gaps,
Can hobble the strongest, and make memory laps.
What is this danger we all face?
For being a part - of the human race.
a:Growing Old
r: Woe to Norman,
That craggy man.
Who's known such horrors,
As to exceed the grief of man.
And as it was written,
A daughter was lost.
When the seas came a coming,
With a shout, and hoar frost.
Oh, where can he be?
This man of cruel fate.
Whose teeth are gnashing,
And a face full of hate.
a: The Wreck of the Hesperus by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(The reef of Norman's Woe)
r: His eyes were raging,
At scraggly beast.
His lips were bursting,
With rows of angry teeth.
Upon his back a razor was found,
And in his thoughts - my death abound.
It was a fearsome battle we fought,
My life - or his, one would be bought.
And when we were through, and death chilled the air,
We cut out his heart, and ate it with flair.
Who was he?
a:A wild boar (Razor back)
r: I travelled inwards,
To that heart where no one else roamed.
Where only the birds and animals found a home.
Where the pixies flew with an audible air,
And tangles twigs and leaves within my hair.
Ah. I love this place, this paradise,
Where everything is so beautiful,
So still, and so nice.
Where did he go?
a:The heart of the forest
r: Of these things - I have two.
One for me - and one for you.
And when you ask about the price,
I simply smile and nod twice.
a:Sharing
7. I am a strange creature,
Hovering in the air,
Moving from here to there,
With a brilliant flare.
Some say I sing,
But others say I have no voice.
So I just hum - as a matter of choice.
What am I?
a:A Hummingbird
r: Sleeping during the day,
I hide away.
Watchful through the night,
I open at dawn's light.
But only for the briefest time,
Do I shine.
And then I hide away,
And sleep through the day.
a:A Morning Glory
r: Looks like water,
But it's heat.
Sits on sand,
Lays on concrete.
People have been known,
To follow it everywhere.
But it gets them no place,
And all they can do is stare.
a:A mirage
2. A part of heaven,
Though it touches the earth.
Some say it's valuable,
Others - no worth.
a: A rainbow
r: I stand,
And look across the sea,
With its waves, crests, troughs, and valleys.
I stride,
Across this water, my horse following after,
And while it laps against his withers,
And brushes against my thighs,
I fill the emptiness with laughter.
And he - with his sighs.
Whether do we go?
Or do we go at all?
Or are we simply out here wading,
To the next port of call.
Where the sea ends,
Where the loam lays firm beneath my feet,
And I can mount my steed again,
And continue til next we meet.
What is really being talked about?
a: The open plains
r: It roars its challenge,
And I respond.
It takes my abuse,
And goes beyond.
Filled with liquid,
In my hurried haste,
I wield my staff,
In this turgid race.
But once I have vanquished,
The mighty foe,
I float like a thistle,
While moving ever so slow.
What are we talking about really?
a: Going down a river with rapids in a boat.
r: I was born blind,
And could not see,
Until it was a quarter of three.
I could not smile,
Til half past six,
And all of my arms and legs
Were made of sticks.
a: A doll
r: Ah! My breath doth shake,
My limbs are thin,
My belly aches.
Whiteness doth crown my head,
And the tracks I leave,
Are unsteady where I've led.
I look out through rheumy eyes,
And seem to say my last goodbyes.
The darkness doth draw me near,
I lean towards it - the better to hear.
a: Old age
r: A riddle given by two people to a third:
(1st person, 2nd person)
Tis not, tis is.
Tis good, tis bad.
Tis left, tis right.
Tis day, tis night.
a: Paradox/Opposites